


i will be chasing a starlight

by multifascinate (talkativelock)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Getting Together, Going on an Adventure, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining, Prosthetics, Some Characters Are Animals and I Don't Feel Bad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 02:55:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15257868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/talkativelock/pseuds/multifascinate
Summary: “That’s it!” Tooru cries suddenly, sitting forward with revitalized energy. Hajime jumps upright too, not entirely sure why.“That’s what?”“That’s where we’re going, Iwa-chan,” Tooru says.Hajime’s brow creases. “Where we’re going?”Tooru grins at Hajime, crazy and beautiful, and on instinct Hajime narrows his eyes. That look is never good. That look means trouble.“We’re going to go get that star.”





	i will be chasing a starlight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Xeylah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xeylah/gifts).



> I'm two days late hsdfjhskjdf. I had this plan of working really hard all week and posting a whole bunch of stuff and then ending the week with this but then I got sick and now I'm just late.
> 
> This is for Xey, who is absolutely amazing. Xey is one of my best friends~ An absolutely lovely person to be around and to chat with. Xey is the great enabler who owns all. Hit up her [tumblr here](http://xeylah.tumblr.com/) and tell her how great she is. IwaOi is her favorite so here's some IwaOi for your troubles~
> 
> This fic also comes with art! Bean and I collabed a bit (sorry I'm so late Bean, you've been waiting) and Bean drew some art from a scene in this fic. Please enjoy [this lovely art](https://snihplodart.tumblr.com/post/175796606009/) to go with!

Hajime would say that it’s not every day that they do this but that would be a lie. Instead he leans back against the tavern wall and takes a lazy drink of his ale. Next to him Tooru chatters on.

He’s on one of his kicks again, the ones where he becomes hopelessly irresponsible in the pursuit of something. Tooru goes in cycles where he fixates on something he wants and pesters Hajime in an effort to get it, whether it be materials to make a new leg (Tooru won that one and Hajime spent a good portion of his money the next town over to cover Tooru for the supplies) or catching a pet in the mountains to give to Tooru’s sister as a wedding gift (Hajime won that one because behir do not make good pets no matter what stories travellers tell and Hajime stands by that statement).

Right now Tooru wants to travel. Hajime wants to resist the temptation to let Tooru have his way.

“Where would we even go?” Hajime asks.

“You’re not listening,” Tooru despairs. 

Hajime rolls his eyes. “I am listening, calm down. It’s a legitimate question.”

“Adventure, Iwa-chan,” Tooru says. “It doesn’t matter where we go.”

“We’re not just going to go wandering around in the woods for a few hours, we’re not five,” Hajime points out.

“Of course not,” Tooru replies, scandalized. 

“Then what’s the point?”

“The point, Iwa-chan, is to get out of this place,” Tooru says in a huff. “I want to see the world before I’m expected to get old and boring.”

Oh, that’s how it is. “So this is about your birthday.”

“No,” Tooru insists.

“It is,” Hajime sighs and it comes out sounding fond despite himself. “You’re an idiot.”

Tooru pouts comically, his lower lip jutting out a little in an over exaggerated impression of his nephew. His nephew who is a toddler. “So mean.”

Hajime rolls his eyes. “Travel is dangerous anyway, we shouldn’t do it on a whim.”

Tooru’s fake pout hardens into annoyance.“I can travel just fine, I’m not an invalid.” Tooru’s hand strays down to fidget with his leg, a fake thing that he built with magic and metal. There are runes worked into the side that glow slightly, letting everyone know that it still has power and can carry Tooru wherever he needs to go.

Losing his leg when he was a kid was awful. Hajime still remembers the blood and the screaming, he doesn’t think he’ll ever forget it. Tooru’s made the most of it, though. Instead of wallowing he ended up becoming apprenticed to an enchanter at a young age. 

Tooru is nothing if not a perfectionist. The items he makes now as an adult are a thing of beauty. Hajime always admires Tooru’s skill. He worked hard to get where he is. He’s amazing.

Not that Hajime would ever say that out loud. That’s incriminating.

Hajime scowls at the accusation in Tooru’s tone. “I never said that, Trashykawa,” he snaps. “Stop putting words in my mouth.”

Tooru huffs, still irritated, but his shoulders relax. “It doesn’t matter. I can travel. I’m not broken.”

“Of course you’re not,” Hajime sighs. “It’s not about you, it’s about the world out there and the fact that there’s no point in running off with nowhere to go. We’d get ourselves killed.”

Tooru sighs and grumbles a little under his breath but all tension is gone from him now. He leans against the wall with Hajime and they both drink. It’s a good feeling, Hajime thinks, to have Tooru by his side. They’ve been best friends all their lives and sometimes it feels like he’s been in love with Tooru longer than that.

Hajime apparently has interesting taste. Mix together unfair levels of beauty, a sharp mind, and determination, then add a large splash of absolute insufferability and you have Oikawa Tooru.

With a wistful sigh Hajime leans his head back until it thuds against the tavern wall.

“Why so glum, Iwa-chan?” Tooru asks.

Hajime looks at Tooru. 

Tooru’s eyes sparkle in the firelight. Sometimes Hajime wonders if it would be worth it to admit out loud to Tooru’s face that Tooru invades his dreams, that he’d rather have Tooru than anything else, that the thing he misses most about being a child was all the free time he had to spend with Tooru.

Hajime opens his mouth. He’s not sure what he wants to say. What comes out is nothing because before he can form words light streaks across the sky.

Tooru and Hajime both snap to attention in time to watch a star fall.

It’s close and bright, filling the sky with brilliant white light for a moment. As one the entire town seems to jump in surprise, or maybe that’s just Hajime projecting. As quickly as it appeared it’s gone, streaking down and out of sight to the east.

For a long moment Hajime and Tooru just stare at the sky, speechless.

“That’s it!” Tooru cries suddenly, sitting forward with revitalized energy. Hajime jumps upright too, not entirely sure why.

“That’s what?”

“That’s where we’re going, Iwa-chan,” Tooru says.

Hajime’s brow creases. “Where we’re going?”

Tooru grins at Hajime, crazy and beautiful, and on instinct Hajime narrows his eyes. That look is never good. That look means trouble.

“We’re going to go get that star.”

Hajime blinks, feeling kind of like Tooru just threw a piece of wadded up parchment at his face. “What?”

Tooru turns on the bench, leaning towards Hajime conspiratorially. “Falling stars grant wishes, right? Imagine what kind of wish we could make if we had a fallen star in our hands. That’s our adventure, Iwa-chan, to catch a falling star.”

Hajime scowls and pushes Tooru slightly, out of his personal space. “You don’t even know that it landed.”

Tooru rolls his eyes. “Everything lands, Iwa-chan. That’s what falling is.”

Hajime sighs.

A wish.

He can’t help but think of Tooru’s leg, cut off at the knee when they were kids playing in dangerous spaces. It was Hajime’s fault. He knows that Tooru doesn’t blame him for it, it was just an accident, but Hajime still thinks that he should have paid better attention. He should have known that the sheet metal was going to fall. He should have protected Tooru better.

Now Tooru’s leg still bothers him. Sure, he’s as mobile as anyone else with his magical contraptions that he’s always tinkering with but it hurts him. Hajime hates knowing that Tooru is in pain, pushing through it because he’s stubborn.

A wish. A wish to bring back Tooru’s leg, or at least ease the pain. A wish to make Tooru’s life easier, to keep Tooru safe.

Hajime holds a finger up. “If we do this,” Hajime says and Tooru lights up. He grins from ear to ear like he won a prize and Hajime repeats himself with more force. “If we do this you have to follow my lead. Don’t be stupid and push yourself.”

Tooru rolls his eyes. “Yes, Okaasan.”

Hajime smacks Tooru lightly on the back of the head. Tooru yelps and cradles the back of his head with his fingers.

“Ow! Iwa-chan!”

“Don’t say stupid shit,” Hajime says.

Tooru sticks his tongue out at Hajime and Hajime just rolls his eyes.

Nothing in the world can take the petty childishness out of Tooru. 

…

Gathering supplies is easy. He comes up with an easy excuse, one that doesn’t reek of childish fantasies about wishes. They’re going to go gather materials for Tooru’s latest project. When he tells his father his father sighs but he does let Hajime take two of the guard’s horses.

Hajime has his sword, of course. As the only son of the captain of the guard he was raised to fight as much as he was raised to wear the uniform. There was never any doubt or choice about where Hajime’s life was heading. He was always going to be a member of the guard, always a swordsman, always with Tooru whenever he has the chance. It’s just how things are.

He appreciates his life and the predictability of it. He wants the simple life, even if Tooru is always doing his damnedest to make it more complicated.

So Hajime takes his sword and everything he’ll need to care for it. He packs provisions, a tent, a bedroll. He brings supplies to make traps so they can catch food. It would be best to make their provisions last.

When Tooru meets him by the east gate all he has is a book and a satchel.

“Seriously?” Hajime asks.

“Hey, I can do a lot with this book,” Tooru defends. “Just watch me, Iwa-chan.”

“I believe that you can do a lot with the book,” Hajime says, “but shouldn't you at least bring a change of clothes?”

Tooru grins one his his charming grins, the kind he uses on customers at his shop to get them to buy more. “Just you watch, Iwa-chan.”

Hajime sighs. “If whatever’s in that book doesn’t work there isn’t a spare bedroll for you, you know.”

Tooru arches an eyebrow. “Who do you think I am? Of course it will work.”

He always has such unshakable confidence. It’s why the ladies love him. Hajime loves the vulnerable side of Tooru more. It’s more authentic, more real. No one is perfect all the time, not even Tooru.

Hajime shakes his head and offers Tooru the reins of the mare. She’s a bit easier to control, calm and well-trained, and she runs faster than the stallion that Hajime’s father let him borrow. “If you’re ready then we should get going.”

Tooru grins and takes the reins from Hajime. “Fallen star here we come.”

Hajime likes this grin. It isn’t the salesman one but a real one. This one is all Tooru, Hajime’s lifelong best friend.

Hajime grins back.

…

They don’t get very far down the road before Tooru takes his leg off.

It’s pretty impressive to watch, actually. It doesn’t matter how many times Hajime watches him remove his leg, the design still impresses him. The way Tooru uses magic to disengage the part that protects where the stump of his leg and the contraption are connected, sliding the bits of metal around to reveal a cotton stuffed cup that cushions Tooru’s weight. With a click Tooru unhooks the leg from the short peg that grounds it in Tooru’s stump. The magic powers down, the runes on the outside fading from view, and Tooru stuffs his invention into his saddlebags before pulling some medicinal salve out of his satchel.

Hajime is glad he gave Tooru the mare. She has a better temperament and is therefore better trained. She walks alongside Hajime’s horse easily without Tooru having to do anything.

“There we go,” Tooru says, mostly to himself, as he rubs the salve into the puckered skin around the peg.

“Didn’t you do this last night when you went to bed?” Hajime asks.

Tooru gets that look on his face that gives Hajime a headache just by existing. He opens his mouth but he doesn’t even need to bother.

“You didn’t sleep much last night, did you?” Hajime asks in a flat voice.

“I was busy,” Tooru says. 

Hajime sighs, annoyed. The stallion huffs, sensing his annoyance, and Hajime rubs a hand up the side of his horses neck comfortably while he says, “Seriously?”

“I was trying to get everything ready,” Tooru defends.

“We could have waited one more day.”

“No,” Tooru says a little too quickly. Hajime narrows his eyes at Tooru but Tooru rushes on. “If we kept waiting we never would have left.”

Hajime frowns and searches Tooru’s expression, which resolutely faces forward. It feels like he’s keeping something from Hajime and Hajime doesn’t like it. They’ve never kept secrets from each other before.

Well, except for Hajime being in love with his best friend. But that doesn’t count.

Hajime considers saying something, considers asking what Tooru is keeping from him.

If he asked would Tooru tell him?

Instead of finding out Hajime says, “I’ll ride ahead in case we run into anything dangerous. You can get some sleep.”

“I’m fine,” Tooru says.

An hour later Tooru dozes in his saddle, the mare following Hajime’s stallion obediently. 

That day passes uneventfully save for the secret Tooru is keeping weighing on Hajime’s mind. When they stop to make camp for the night Tooru stops Hajime from setting up his tent.

“Watch and learn, Iwa-chan.”

Hajime lifts his eyebrows and stands to the side as Tooru pulls a rope out of his satchel. He consults the book he brought before laying the rope in a circle on the ground, large enough that they could fit themselves into it comfortably. After making sure that it’s arranged just so, Tooru starts walking around the perimeter of it. He reads an incantation out of his book, the words running over themselves again and again.

It takes a while. Hajime feels like he’s been standing there forever by the time Tooru walks into the center of the rope circle. He says something else in that old language spells use that people don’t speak anymore and makes a jerking motion with his arm, like pulling on a rope.

A cottage pops into existence.

Hajime jumps at the suddenness of it, the horses startling and suddenly trying to get away. They drag Hajime a few feet before he gets them to stop, pulling them back towards the spontaneously appearing house.

The front door opens and Tooru walks out, beaming. “Ta-da!”

“What the hell, Tooru?” Hajime demands. “Why didn’t you tell me you could make a house?”

“I wanted to keep the surprise for extra dramatic effect,” Tooru says, examining his fingernails with an air of expertise.

Hajime eyes him for a moment. His stance, his expression. “You weren’t sure it would work, were you?”

Tooru blanches slightly. “I was at least 90% sure,” Tooru insists before moving on hastily. “What’s with you not even being impressed by my house making skills anyway, Iwa-chan? I worked hard, you know.”

Tooru’s right, he did make a house. It’s a beautiful house, too, very much to Tooru’s taste. There are flower boxes in the windows and it has a chimney, which implies a fireplace. It’s a nice cream color with green trim and well done stonework. 

Hajime doesn’t know anything about magic, not really. Sure, he’s absorbed some things here and there from being Tooru’s best friend all these years but there was a large swath of his childhood where the only thing he really had time for was swordsmanship classes.

Well, swordsmanship classes and sneaking out of the house to hang out with Tooru.

Hajime doesn’t know a lot about magic but he does know that Tooru just made a house from nothing but a rope.

“You put a rope on the ground,” Hajime says, lifting an eyebrow at Tooru.

“A special rope!” Tooru pouts. It isn’t one of his super fake pouts, the ones he models after children. “No respect, honesty.”

“You’re right,” Hajime says, smiling. He walks the horses closer to the house where a little fence appeared around what is probably supposed to be a tiny yard. How like Tooru to even make a magic yard to go with his magic house. He half expected it to have a garden. “It is pretty cool.”

“Obviously,” Tooru says, pleased.

Hajime rolls his eyes but he doesn’t bother to try to force his smile off his face. “See, this is why I don’t compliment you,” he says, tying the horses to the fence. There’s grass here and he can come out later to take them to get water at the nearby stream, which was what he chose this spot for in the first place.

“I don’t need you to compliment me, I’m amazing as it is,” Tooru grins.

Hajime shakes his head and turns to the horses to pull their stuff off the back. House or no house, they’ll need things to sleep on.

“Ah ah ah, Iwa-chan,” Tooru says, stopping him.

“Don’t ‘ah ah ah’ me.”

Tooru rolls his eyes. “The house is already fully stocked. You didn’t think I’d make a house without a nice bed, did you?”

…

Hajime wakes up the next morning to the sound of birds chirping. They’re alarmingly close. 

He rolls to the side blearily and immediately notices that the soft, fluffy bed that he had tucked into last night after a dinner of roast chicken and potatoes that the magic house was somehow stocked with (and how did that work? Did he basically eat magic for dinner last night?) has become hard and uncomfortable.

Hajime opens his eyes and is met with an unobstructed view of the forest from the ground.

“Tooru?” Hajime calls without moving. 

Behind him, Tooru groans that sleepy groan he has for when he doesn’t want to wake up. Hajime hasn’t heard it in a while but it’s exactly the same as when they were kids. Hajime turns to see Tooru asleep on the ground behind him.

Hajime sits up and takes stock of his surroundings. 

Trees, grass, dirt, Hajime’s travel armor and sword, Tooru, Tooru’s leg, Tooru’s book, a rope.

No house.

“Tooru, where’d the house go?”

There’s a long moment of silence and then Tooru’s eyes open. He sits up and takes stock of his surroundings the same way Hajime had. If Hajime were standing he might be tapping his foot as he waits for Tooru to catch up.

“Huh,” Tooru says, blinking.

“That’s all you have to say?”

“Uh…” Tooru reaches for the book he brought, pulling it into his lap and flipping through the pages quickly. Hajime can tell when he finds the spell for the house because he gets a look of ultimate concentration as he reads the runes written there.

After a moment Tooru sits back. “I might have done the spell wrong?”

Hajime pinches the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “Dammit, Shittykawa.”

“It’s not a big deal,” Tooru says quickly. “I’ll just do it for longer tonight and we won’t have this problem. The longer you cast the spell the longer the house stays.”

“Seriously?” Hajime asks. “And you didn’t read about this before you cast the spell?”

“Chill out, Iwa-chan,” Tooru says, spreading his hands wide. “It’s fine, see?”

Hajime closes his eyes. “Shittykawa, where are the horses?”

There’s a moment of silence and then Tooru says “Oh.”

…

It takes them half the day to locate the horses, who had wandered off in search of literally greener pastures. Honestly, they were lucky to find the horses at all.

They’re both frustrated and tired and way off course but there’s a town on the horizon so they head there for the night instead of trying Tooru’s magic again. He doesn’t complain.

The only kind of room they have is a single bed and Hajime and Tooru take it. They’ve shared before, after all. Hajime isn’t going to let his feelings get in the way.

As soon as they get into the room Tooru sits on the bed, yanking his fake leg up and onto the covers.

Tooru takes his leg off to reveal red, swollen skin underneath. Hajime rewinds their day in his head and realizes that Tooru never walks this much. His job requires sitting at a workbench, sometimes standing at the forge but he has a kneeling bench for that so that he doesn’t have to put weight on his leg. Tooru’s entire life is built around the fact that even with the prosthetic it hurts him to walk.

How long has Tooru’s leg been bothering him?

Tooru hisses as the core of his device disengages from the peg. The skin around the peg is the most irritated.

Hajime hates the crease between Tooru’s eyebrows.

Tooru reaches for his salve and misses, instead knocking it off the bed. It goes skittering onto the floor with the loud clatter of steel against wood and Tooru sighs, closing his eyes to visibly center himself. He takes deep breaths, in then out.

Hajime walks over and scoops up the salve. The metal is cool against his palm and Hajime imagines that he can feel the medicinal properties even through the barrier.

“Tooru,” Hajime calls for Tooru’s attention and Tooru ignores him. Hajime steps over and settles on the floor in front of Tooru’s knees. “Hey, idiot.”

Tooru scowls and opens his eyes, his mouth opening to tell Hajime off, but his words seem to die in his throat. He blinks down at Hajime, confused. “Huh?”

“I don’t know how to do this,” Hajime says, unscrewing the top of the salve and peering inside just so that he doesn’t have to meet Tooru’s gaze. “You’ll have to walk me through it.”

There’s a moment of heavy silence and Hajime wonders if he’s overstepped. Maybe he should have handed it to Tooru and started up a conversation about it, tried to soothe Tooru with words instead of being weird about it, but he wants to help. He wants Tooru to feel better.

He wants that wish from the falling star.

“It needs a lot,” Tooru says after a moment. Hajime looks up and makes eye contact with Tooru just in time for Tooru to say, “And you have to be gentle.”

This was a really bad idea.

Hajime forces himself not to think, he just dips his fingers into the container and scoops out a bunch of Tooru’s medicine. The moment it touches Hajime’s skin it starts to tingle. Hajime leans forward and carefully applies some to the reddened skin.

Tooru hisses, flinching, and that jerks Hajime’s unprepared fingers into the peg. The metal smarts and the noise that Tooru makes is pained. Hajime doesn’t think, he just grabs Tooru’s thigh with his free hand. “Hold still, Shittykawa.”

“So mean,” Tooru says. It’s his usual fake whine but there’s real pain behind it right now and that makes Hajime’s heart clench. He keeps his fingers gentle and tries again.

He’s careful to spread the salve in a thick layer. It looks like it needs it. Tooru doesn’t complain about Hajime using up all the salve so it’s probably fine. He’s especially careful around the peg where the skin is puckered and sensitive. Tooru hisses every once in a while when Hajime’s fingers catch just wrong.

“Sorry,” Hajime says.

“I’m fine,” Tooru says.

Hajime looks up then to give Tooru his best unimpressed face. Tooru pulls one back and Hajime would participate in a standoff but there’s still parts of Tooru’s skin that need attention.

Once he’s covered everything that’s red and probably some places that aren’t he asks, “So, what now?”

“Well, usually I rub it in, but-”

“Okay,” Hajime interrupts.

“Iwa-chan!”

“Shut up,” Hajime says. 

“So mean.”

“I wouldn’t have to be so mean if you would stop pushing yourself so hard,” Hajime says, carefully rubbing in the salve. Tooru says nothing and Hajime resolutely keeps his eyes on his hands. He doesn’t need to know what Tooru’s expression looks like. “Shittykawa,” he adds a little late, just because.

Tooru laughs, a soft and quiet sound. Hajime can’t stop himself from smiling.

The salve has done its job, taking away the swelling and probably numbing the pain if the tingling in Hajime’s fingers is anything to go by. He lets his hand linger on Tooru’s skin even though he shouldn’t because he’s a masochist like that.

“Sorry I botched the spell,” Tooru says after a moment.

Hajime pretends that he sees some salve that hasn’t been rubbed in and swipes his thumb over a patch of skin in slow circles. “How long would you need to do the spell to make it actually last all night?”

“Probably like fifteen minutes.”

Hajime winces. That’s a long time to walk in a circle without stopping, especially for Tooru. “How about instead of trying to show off you let me help next time?”

Tooru sighs but he doesn’t even put up a token resistance. Hajime looks up just in time to see Tooru’s smile when he says, “Yeah, okay.”

…

The next few days pass in a blur of travel. Every night they make a house, Hajime offering himself up as a crutch so that Tooru doesn’t have to put so much weight on his leg. They have dinner, always the same, and then if there’s time they build a fire with the fresh chopped wood that is always in the fireplace. They sit and Tooru does his treatment while they talk about everything and nothing. Sometimes they talk about the star.

“I bet it’s beautiful,” Tooru says. “It’s got to be beautiful, right?”

Hajime shrugs. “Sure.”

“Sure? How can you be so blasé?”

Hajime rolls his eyes. “I just don’t see what the big deal is.”

Tooru pouts. “So, what? You’re just coming on this trip because of me?”

Hajime fights down a blush. He hates it when Tooru is right. “Who else would I go on a trip like this with?”

Tooru opens his mouth and then closes it again for a moment, blinking. “Fair point.”

Hajime narrows his eyes. “Okay, I know I started it but why do I feel like I just got insulted.”

Tooru smiles that fake charming smile. “Like you said, you started it.”

…

On the fourth day it rains.

It’s absolutely miserable. They’re getting close to the edge of the swamp and the weather has been getting worse and worse as the hours roll on. In the mid afternoon of the fourth day everything comes crashing out of the sky in pouring sheets. Hajime and Tooru push on, wanting to reach the star sooner, but eventually they’re soaked through and shivering and they both just want to curl up by the fire.

Even with Hajime’s help Tooru stumbles thought the ritual. It feels like it takes forever to do it and eventually they’re standing dripping in the living room of the house that Hajime has definitely not started thinking about as theirs.

It’s a comparatively short night, honestly. They curl up under blankets by the fire with their soup in hand, chicken and potatoes of course, and then they both turn in early, wanting nothing more than to bundle up under the covers and sleep off the storm.

When Hajime wakes next it is again to the sound of birds too close. He can’t even be mad this time. He rushed Tooru, wanting to get out of the rain as fast as possible.

He opens his eyes to see that there is in fact no ceiling. With a sigh he sits up, at least thankful that the rain had stopped before they lost the cottage, whenever that was. Of course, they also seem to have lost the horses.

Hajime has a feeling that this is going to suck and it does.

He and Tooru walk for hours looking for the horses. Literally hours. They do not find the horses.

The sun starts to set as they skirt the edge of the swamp, Hajime feeling like they’ve already looked through this area. He also feels sick to his stomach because Tooru is limping roughly at this point but it isn’t safe to just leave him.

It’s starting to become obvious; they lost the horses for good.

“We should stop and rest for the night,” Hajime says.

“No,” Tooru says, stubborn to a fault. “We haven’t found them yet.”

Hajime grabs Tooru by the shoulder. “Dammit, Tooru, we need to stop.”

Tooru whirls on Hajime. “I can’t walk all the way to the star, Hajime.”

Hajime deflates but he doesn’t let go of Tooru’s shoulder or break eye contact. They stare each other down and then Hajime sees motion out of the corner of his eye. He turns, hoping to see a horse. They can make do with just one. Hajime will walk.

It’s not a horse. It’s a girl.

She looks young, younger than Hajime would expect someone to be out in the wilderness seemingly on their own. She clutches a walking stick to her chest and carries a large yellow backpack on her back. Her hair is light colored, like honey, and her eyes are wide as she stares at them like a startled deer.

Tooru follows Hajime’s eyes. His expression melts into one of suave charm at the sight of the girl. Hajime can see the tightness that hides just behind the expression. 

“Hey there,” Tooru says in his sales voice.

The girl jumps, eyes going even wider. Somewhere nearby a crow calls.

Hajime hits Tooru on the back of the head, nothing much just a tap. Tooru winces, though, turning to Hajime. “Iwa-chan!”

They’re cut off by a giggle, girlish and cute. They both look up to see the girl laughing softly. When she sees them looking she clasps a hand over her mouth.

“Ignore him,” Hajime says, trying to sound soothing and non-threatening. 

“Hey,” Tooru complains.

“Are you from around here?”

The girl pulls her hand down from her mouth as though she’s afraid of it straying too far away. “A-am I? From? Oh, I’m, uh, yes? I guess?”

“That’s wonderful!” Tooru says before Hajime can say anything else. “Isn’t it, Iwa-chan?”

Hajime tries to ignore him. “We’re a little lost.”

Her mouth rounds and she says, “Oh, okay.”

Then she doesn’t say anything else. A crow calls again in the silence.

“We were hoping you could give us some directions, preferably to somewhere nearby where horses might go, miss…” Tooru trails off and gestures at her, a physical way of asking for her name.

The girl stares at him for a minute. A crow calls again and she startles. “Oh! I’m Yachi.”

Tooru does his sweetest, fakest smile. Hajime cuts him off before he can say anything embarrassing. “I’m Iwaizumi and this is Oikawa.”

She nods. A crow swoops in and lands on the top of her walking stick. It settles and gives them the stink eye. She looks up at it. “Oh, there you are, Tsukki.”

The crow says nothing, it just keeps looking at Hajime and Tooru like they’re up to something. Hajime might be assigning too much emotion to a crow but something about the way the crow looks at them seems very accusatory.

“Uh, can you help us, Yachi-kun?” Hajime tries again.

Yachi jumps, startled by his question. “Oh, yes. Yeah, I can help.”

Tooru beams in genuine relief. She smiles back, a little hesitant, and then turns away.

“Follow me.”

Yachi strides into the swamp.

Hajime and Tooru look at each other. At this point they don’t have a lot of options. They have to find their horses somehow.

Slowly, they start to follow her.

Yachi takes them through a path that is actually very easy to walk. On either side there’s earth that is too wet to traverse comfortably, especially for Tooru, but the path Yachi picks out of the swamp doesn’t try to suck them in. She really is from around here, Hajime supposes. Following her is fine, her short legs mean that she doesn’t move too fast so it’s easy to keep up. In fact, the only downside to the entire plan is the crow.

Crows plural, actually.

Tsukki, the first crow, remains perched on the top of her walking stick except he turns himself around so that he can keep an eye on them. The top of it is wide, branching off to give more perch, and as they walk more crows join Tsukki. There are four in total by the time they arrive at some kind of swamp cottage, all watching Hajime and Tooru with suspicion.

The birds take to the air as Yachi steps under the eves of what appears to be her own front door. They circle around before landing on perches scattered around the front door, wreathing the door in angry black birds.

“Uh,” Hajime says quietly to Tooru as Yachi heads inside, leaving her door open as an obvious invitation. “What’s with the birds, do you think?”

“Pets?” Tooru guesses.

“He thinks we’re pets,” says one, bored. Hajime and Tooru both jump.

“Hey, I’m not a pet,” says another.

“We should chase them away,” says a third, voice ominous. 

“Stop it, guys,” the last pipes up. “Yacchan brought them here for a reason.”

“Hajime,” Tooru says. “I think you hit the back of my head too hard. I’m hearing birds talk.”

“You’re stupid,” one of them says bluntly. Two more squawk their laughter. The last one, the one that thinks that Yachi brought them here for a reason, shakes its head forlornly.

“I’m hearing birds talk too,” Hajime says.

“Okay,” Tooru says.

Yachi’s head pokes itself back out of the house. She blinks at them, concerned. “Are you guys okay?”

“We’re fine, Yacchan-” Tooru starts and the birds start making indignant noises and flapping about.

Hajime’s hand immediately goes to the pommel of his sword.

“Hey,” Yachi says, holding her hands up and frowning. “What is with you guys?”

“He called you Yacchan,” complains one, the one who didn’t want to be called a pet. 

She blinks at them. “So?”

The crow deflates. “I mean…”

“We don’t even know them,” one of the crows says, scandalized.

“Listen, crows,” Tooru says, stepping forward. He stumbles slightly and Hajime lurches forward to catch him but he catches himself. “We mean you and your friend no harm. We’re just lost.”

One of the crows shifts around on his perch, ruffling his feathers. “Don’t mind the others, it’s fine.” The other three crows grumble. “It’s fine!”

“Tadashi’s right, I’ll be fine, guys,” Yachi says. She turns to Hajime and Tooru. “Sorry about them. Come on in.”

Hajime keeps his hand on the pommel of his sword as he walks past. The crows seem ominous, like they’re waiting for weakness. He also keeps an eye on Tooru, just in case.

“We’re watching you,” says one as they slide past.

“Hinata!”

“What? We are!”

While Tadashi chews the one named Hinata out one of the other ones fixes them with a hard look. “Be careful,” he says. The way he says it sounds like a warning. Then he takes off.

The crows follow the first one, one at a time. Hajime ducks through the circular door and into the house.

It’s homey. A little cluttered but otherwise clean. They don’t get very far in before the crows swoop in through the open kitchen window to settle on perches around the main space. In fact, it looks like Yachi decorates specifically for the crows. There are perches scattered all about at different heights, places for the birds to settle.

“Don’t mind them,” Yachi says, echoing what Tadashi had said. “Uh, feel free to sit down?” 

It’s awkward to be in here with the birds watching them but they’ll have to make do.

Tooru smiles. He’s good at glossing over awkward situations. “Thank you, Yacchan.”

She smiles at him. Three of the crows shift around grumpily.

“Oh!” she says after a moment, jumping in place. “Snacks! You should always offer your guests snacks.” With that she’s off, heading quickly towards the kitchen to rifle through her cabinets for something to offer. 

Tooru and Hajime settle on the couch. Tooru immediately takes off his leg and Hajime winces at the sight. It’s even worse than it was the other day, a lot of angry red skin. Tooru leans over and hunts through his bag for his salve.

“Do you want me to…” Hajime trails off. Tooru looks up from his bag to blink at Hajime for a moment, taken by surprise. He has the salve in his hand

“I can do it,” Tooru says after a moment.

“Yeah,” Hajime agrees. “I’ve got a better angle, though.” Tooru just stares at him so Hajime holds out his hand palm up, waiting for the salve. “Here, let me do it.”

Tooru barely hesitates. He hands the salve over and as Hajime unscrews the top he shuffles around on the couch so that his stump is practically in Hajime’s lap. Hajime shifts so that it is in his lap before starting the application process. He’s careful, this time holding Tooru’s thigh with his free hand from the beginning so that he doesn’t hurt himself more. Tooru winces at the contact and then sighs as the pain relief sets in.

“Oh, wow,” Yachi says as she approaches with a tray of tea and tiny cakes. Under Hajime’s hand Tooru stiffens. “That’s amazing. Are you an artificer?”

Hajime looks up from what he’s doing for a moment to see that Yachi isn’t concerned with Tooru’s stump but with Tooru’s device, which he set to the side. 

Tooru relaxes and Hajime goes back to his task and just listens.

“I am,” Tooru says. “A pretty great one, if I do say so myself.”

“That’s amazing. I’ve never been good with that kind of stuff.”

“Oh?” Tooru sounds curious. “Do you practice magic?”

“Yeah,” Yachi sounds shy when she says it, like she isn’t certain she is worthy of the title. “Nothing impressive though. I’m mostly good with plants and animals.”

“Nothing impressive,” one of the birds scoffs. 

“Yacchan, you’re amazing,” Hinata says with earnestness in his voice.

Hajime looks up again to see that Yachi is red faced. “You guys…”

“Don’t talk down about yourself,” another bird says, annoyed.

“Your friends seem to think you’re very impressive,” Hajime points out.

Yachi smiles, looking up at the crows. “Yeah, they’re pretty great.” Suddenly her expression morphs into one of mortification. She whirls back on them. “Oh my goodness, I never introduced them, did I?”

“Uh, no.”

Yachi points at each of the birds starting with the closest one. “That’s Tsukki, that’s Tadashi, that’s Shouchan, and that’s Tobio.”

“Nice to meet you,” Hajime greets.

“Have they always been talking birds?” Tooru asks.

Yachi flushes. “Uh, not exactly.”

“You don’t have to tell him anymore,” Tadashi says.

“I’m begging you not to, actually,” Tsukki cuts in, sounding bored.

“That’s fine,” Hajime says. “I don’t actually want to know.”

“I’m at least a little bit curious,” Tooru says and at the frankly terrifying way all four birds puff up in anger at once he hastily adds, “but I don’t really need to know.”

“How about you tell me why you were at the edge of the swamp instead?” Yachi asks. “You said you were lost?”

Hajime sighs and goes back to rubbing the salve in. “We lost our horses.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Yachi says. “Did you want me to help you find them?”

“If you at least know of somewhere we could start that would be much appreciated, Yacchan,” Tooru says.

“I can do better,” Yachi says. “I can have them come to you.”

“You can do that?” Hajime asks.

“Of course she can,” Tobio says.

“Weren’t you listening, Yacchan’s amazing,” Shouchan says. He sounds like Hinata.

Yachi smiles. “If you have something that’s been in contact with them recently I can summon them here. It might take a while for them to show up, though. You’ll probably have to stay the night.”

“We would be honored,” Tooru says.

“Great,” Tsukki sighs.

…

“So, why are you travelling?” Yachi asks over dinner a few hours later. Hajime has to admit that having something that isn’t chicken and potatoes is nice. The dumplings are good and so are the fire-baked vegetables.

“We’re chasing a star,” Tooru says, wiggling his fingers dramatically in the air.

Yachi blinks at him. “A star?”

“A star,” he confirms. Hajime rolls his eyes.

“A star fell a few days ago. We’re trying to find it.”

“A fallen star,” Yachi says. Hajime can see her rewinding the past week in her head. “There hasn’t been a fallen star.”

Hajime and Tooru glance at each other before looking back to Yachi.

“Yes there was,” Tooru says. “We saw it.”

Yachi frowns. “The closest thing that I’ve seen to a fallen star recently was a shooting star. It never fell, though. It just went right back up into the heavens.”

Hajime feels suddenly cold.

“You’re mistaken,” Tooru says weakly. “There was a falling star.”

“She’s not mistaken,” Shouchan says. “Yacchan’s almost as good with stars as she is with animals.”

Yachi hesitates, looking guilty. “Sorry. You travelled all this way… Should I not have said anything?”

Tooru looks down at his food. Hajime tries to pick up the slack. “It’s fine. It’s better to know then to keep riding forever.”

“I’m sorry,” Yachi says again, looking between the two of them.

Hajime kicks Tooru under the table lightly. Tooru shakes himself and then looks up at Yachi.

He’s wearing that fake smile. He’s so upset it makes Hajime’s heart hurt.

“Iwa-chan’s right, we wouldn’t want to keep travelling forever. Thanks for telling us.”

Hajime returns to his food and wonders what he’s supposed to do without a wish to keep Tooru safe.

…

That night they bunk on Yachi’s living room floor. She pulls blankets from the closet and they do their best to make them into a bed. They lay side by side on the floor, both of them staring up at the ceiling.

Hajime wonders what Tooru is thinking.

“Hey,” he says, soft in the dark.

“Hey,” Tooru replies.

“I’m disappointed about the star too,” Hajime says.

“I really wanted that wish,” Tooru says to the ceiling. It’s dark and quiet and vulnerable, like they’re teenagers telling secrets long after they should be in bed. Outside the cottage the swamp is alive with the sounds of night, frogs and crickets and splashing fish. Somewhere out there Hajime and Tooru’s horses are on their way back. When they arrive Hajime and Tooru will be off, back home with no wish to show for their troubles.

“I did too,” Hajime admits.

Tooru scoffs and Hajime feels a shock of hurt go through him. Tooru doesn’t scoff at him. They don’t scoff at each other, not seriously. It’s not the kind of friends they are.

“Hey,” Hajime starts, angry, but Tooru cuts him off and what he says makes Hajime’s anger die with his voice.

“I’m getting married, Iwa-chan.”

If Hajime had felt cold when he found out that there was no star then he feels absolutely glacial now. He’s buried under snow, encrusted in frost. He’s made of ice and he can barely breathe.

Getting married? Tooru?

It makes too much sense. Hajime can’t help but think of the secret Tooru has been keeping.

“What?” Hajime says and the word barely passes his lips.

“My parents want me to get married already so they’re setting up an arranged marriage,” Tooru says. He says it bitterly. “When we get home I’ll probably have to meet her for the first time. I’ll be married within the month.”

Hajime doesn’t know what to say. It feels like the world is crumbling under him. “Tooru, why didn’t you-”

“I was going to use the wish to stop the wedding,” Tooru interrupts. “I was going to wish for someone I lo-” He cuts himself off. “It doesn’t matter.”

Hajime feels like he’s been slapped in the face. Tooru wanted to wish for someone to love. Someone else.

“Tooru,” Hajime tries again.

Tooru rolls away. “Good night, Iwa-chan.”

Hajime watches the line of Tooru’s back until the sun starts to cast light over the kitchen and his eyes finally force their way closed.

…

Tooru is falsely cheery the next day. True to Yachi’s word the horses come back and Tooru lavishes praise on her. The crows watch them suspiciously but in the end Hajime and Tooru leave without a scratch.

They head west, back the way they came.

As they leave the swamp behind Tooru folds in upon himself. He doesn’t speak, he just keeps his head down. Hajime keeps an eye on him. He can’t think of anything else to do. His words are lodged in his throat, words like “Why” and “No” and “I love you” refusing to pass his lips. He just watches and Tooru slumps.

They travel like that through the overcast afternoon.

It’s Hajime watching Tooru that saves him in the end.

He spots the eagle while it’s still in the distance, a reasonably sized speck. As it gets closer, going faster than it reasonably should be able to, Hajime realizes that it’s a bit too large. By the time he realizes the sheer scope and size of the bird it’s already too late. 

“Tooru, get down!”

Tooru’s head snaps up and he blinks out of his daze. He follows Hajime’s eyes but he can’t move fast enough. The eagle reaches out with its talons and there’s really only time to react.

Letting it get Tooru was never an option. Hajime would rather die.

Hajime launches himself from the stallion, shoving at Tooru. Tooru goes over, falling right off his horse. As he does Hajime’s hand goes to his sword, preparing to draw it to drive the bird off. The giant eagle, though, has better ideas.

Before Hajime can get his sword drawn the eagle makes a split second change. Its talons close around Hajime instead. He’s only a few feet away from the giant eagle’s original target. He doesn’t have enough time to react, not against an eagle in full dive.

The eagle’s wings snap open. The stallion screams. Hajime is surrounded by the eagle’s crushing grip. His arm is squished to his side painfully, his sword pinned no where close to all the way drawn.

What is with the last few days and birds?

“Hajime!” Tooru screams from where he’s still on the ground after Hajime threw him off. He’s getting smaller as the eagle rushes away with its prey.

Hajime tries to commit Tooru to memory. His perfect hair which Hajime knows for sure that he works very hard on. His cunning, intelligent brown eyes that Hajime can’t see from up here but he’s looked into enough times to have memorized. His finger as it points to Hajime even from this far away.

Tooru points and even across the distance between them Hajime feels like Tooru is touching him. Tooru points and they are connected. Tooru points and Hajime can feel Tooru’s heart beating, or maybe that’s just his own.

Tooru says something that Hajime can’t hear and then that finger lights up. A bolt of pure energy comes rocketing toward him and then it isn’t even coming towards Hajime at all.

It impacts the eagle hard enough that Hajime is tossed around and then the eagle shrieks.

They start going down. The eagle lets him go.

Hajime was taken very high very quickly. Now he falls.

All falling things land.

Hajime closes his eyes. He thinks about Tooru and hits the ground.

…

“Don’t you dare die on me, Hajime.”

Whoever is saying that is important. He wants to do what they say. They have good ideas sometimes. Hajime trusts them with his life.

“Dammit Hajime, open your eyes.”

Hajime tries, he really does. Something touches his face. Fingers. There are fingers on his cheeks.

“I love you, okay? I love you so you’re not allowed to die.”

Things come rushing back to Hajime very quickly after that. Light, pain, and Tooru.

Hajime pries his eyes open. 

It can’t have been more than a minute. The sky is still an overcast gray behind Tooru’s worried face. Hajime aches all over. He feels like he rolled down a sharp hill and over several large boulders. Nothing hurts extra bad, it’s all just general pain.

Well, nothing except his head.

Hajime sets that aside. Head pain is nothing to ignore, not really, but he has more pressing matters.

He locates his own hand and lifts it. He grabs Tooru’s face, temporarily stopping him from checking over Hajime for injuries.

Tooru’s eyes snap back up to Hajime’s. “Oh thank God.”

“Did you mean it?” Hajime asks.

Tooru goes a little stiff under Hajime’s hand. “What are you talking about, Iwa-chan?”

Hajime knows Tooru better than he knows himself. He knows everything about Tooru. He knows Tooru’s strength and Tooru’s weakness and every expression Tooru makes.

He knows Tooru but he missed this.

Hajime lifts his other hand and cradles Tooru’s cheeks. He pulls and Tooru doesn’t even put up a token resistance.

Hajime kisses Tooru. He kisses Tooru with everything he has, with his years of hidden feelings. He kisses Tooru and Tooru kisses him and behind Hajime’s eyelids a star falls, a wish is fulfilled. Hajime’s head aches but he ignores it.

This is what he wants. This is what he needs.

He lets Tooru pull back after a moment. He opens his eyes to see Tooru’s wide brown ones.

“I love you too,” Hajime says, his voice rasping. “I think I’ve loved you my entire life.”

“You probably have a concussion,” Tooru says faintly.

“Yeah,” Hajime agrees. “Doesn’t mean I don’t love you, though.”

Tooru laughs and leans forward to press his mouth against Hajime’s one more time before pulling back. “Who doesn’t, though?”

Hajime groans. “Nevermind, I take it back. I have a concussion. I can’t be held responsible for the things I say.”

“Iwa-chan, so mean.”

Hajime slides his arms down and around Tooru’s waist so he can pull Tooru down and against him.

…

Eventually, Tooru does get married.

It’s one of the best days of Hajime’s life. He is told that it’s one of the worst days of literally every girl in town’s life. Hajime really doesn’t care. As far as he’s concerned they’re not important. What’s important is Hajime and Tooru, a shop where Tooru sells magical contraptions, and the daytime shift with the guard. 

What’s important is the house they build, reminiscent of one with a fence around a tiny yard, a fireplace, and flower boxes in the windows. What’s important is Hajime’s fingers on Tooru’s skin and Tooru’s fingers in Hajime’s hair and wishes. Lots of wishes, whispered into each others lips when light streaks across the sky.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, you can find me [on tumblr here](http://talkativelock.tumblr.com/) where I post about anime, life, and writing.


End file.
